Holiday apartments are not equipped for lavish cooking, but with so much else to see and do it would be sad to spend too long on food preparation. Our apartments have just a microwave/grill and two hotplates, which is ample because the local fare is excellent for simple and delicious meals. The local cheeses and charcuterie must be sampled.
butchers - There are two good butchers in the village who both produce their own saussages and charcuterie and trim meat very nicely. All you need to do is pan fry in a little olive oil or butter. They also produce daily ready-made meals which you only need to reheat.
bakers - There are three good bakers - all of whom make delicious tarts and one usually has rotiserie chickens on the go. The village shops are hard to beat for bread and meat, otherwise...
supermarkets - There is a small supermarket in the village which is handy for odd items but not the main shopping. The Casino supermarket at Demi-Quartier is better and has good fresh fish, fruit and veg, delicatessen, and selection of spirits. If you have time the larger supermarkets in the valley are better for wine, i.e the Carrefour at Sallanches, and the Intermarché at Domancy.
direct - we often buy cheese direct from the farm in route d'Ormaret or the cheese cave at Domancy (on the right past the Intermarché) towards Le Fayet. In summer, you could also pay a visit to Beaufort and buy direct from the cheese factory. There is cheese, honey and other fresh local produce on sale in the weekly markets.
Local Cheeses - Abondance is a firm, pleasantly tangy cheese from the milk of a local breed of cow, principle ingredient of "Berthoud" and adds flavour to Fondue; Beaufort "the prince of Gruyères" and one of the main ingredients of fondue savoyarde (Beaufort d'alpage or Beaufort d'ete has superior flavour to Beaufort d'hiver); Chèvre various local goats cheeses; Comté the other main ingredient of fondue savoyarde is a hard, slightly salty, rich tasting cheese from the Juras; Emmenthal is like the Swiss cheese with waxy texture and large holes; Raclette is for melting, allow 200g per person, cru, fume, or chèvre taste best but pasteurised travels better; Reblochon is a soft, creamy and mellow, local round cheese; Tomme is local cheese from various regions of France, try before you buy Tomme de Savoie - assistants will be pleased to cut you a sample.
Meat and charcuterie - The two local butchers are both good for fresh meat and their own prepared hams, sausages and made up dishes. Diots, the local sausages, are very tasty grilled or cooked in white wine. Magland (from a village between Sallanches and Cluses) is an excellent sausage to eat as salami. Jambon cru is similar to Parma ham.
Fish - Look out for perche and féra (salmon family) from the lakes of Geneva and Annecy. Otherwise you can buy cabillaud (cod), colin (hake), loup (bass), brochet (pike), truite, and carrelet (plaice).
Local Wines - Abymes a light dry white and relatively cheaper wine; Apremont very light and dry white product of the "Jacquère" grape, perfect with fondue savoyarde; Chignin is similar to Apremont but a bit more body; Crepy dry and light, slightly sparkling white product of the "Chasselas" grape; Gamay light red product of the grape which Beaujolais is based on - Chautagne Gamay is particularly good; Marin white wine from south banks of Lac Leman, chasselas grape, good with fish; Mondeuse dark red wine with lots of character - Arbin Mondeus is particularly good. Pinot Noir local red wine of the Burgundy grape. Roussette full bodied white wine from the roussette grape. Seyssel Royale is one of the finest Champagne Method wines in france.
Beer - for drinking out, the keg beer (pression) is generally good, otherwise Kronenbourg (including 1664 or seize cent soixante quatre) is usually available and cheaper than imported beers.
Restaurants there are several good tourist class restaurants around Combloux. You may find them nearly empty or packed to the gills, but welcoming in any case. Here are some examples.
Local Dishes - Assiette Savoyarde a selection of local charcuterie including jambon blanc, jambon cru (like parma ham), and saucissons (the best being Magland); Berthoud is based on Abondance and white wine cooked in oven, served with potatoes and charcuterie; Fondue Savoyarde is eaten by dipping bread into molten cheese mixture (Beaufort, Comté, and white wine) usually accompanied by salad and Aprement; Pela potatoes and various other things served in a small frying pan; Raclette a special cheese you melt for yourself under a table grill and pour over chopped up potato and lardons; Reblochonade based on potatoes baked with reblochon cheese; Tartiflette grilled reblochon cheese melted over a mixture of lardons and potatoes.
Vegetarians - beware the locals do not understand your strange behaviour - for example, you may need to order a "vegetarian salad" because simply asking for a dish without meat will not exclude charcuterie and lardons which are standard ingredients for savoyard salads.